Books

Having loved and lost, can Scott and Shevaughn get things right this time?After being betrayed by his fiancée, Scott Fine isn't about to trust another woman.Shevaughn Young escaped from her marriage to a control freak and isn’t planning to give up her independence a second time.A mix up with their hotel booking throws them together and Scott and Shevaughn realize they want the same thing—an interlude with no strings attached.That’s until their connection turns into something they didn’t anticipate. Now they’re hard-pressed to keep their passion from flaring out of control and into something that looks like forever.Purchase Link: Amazon

Situations can, and do, get sticky when people in a relationship choose to keep life-threatening secrets. Nyoka Emerson knows what love, success, and loss look like. She's been betrayed and devastated and is finally pulling her life back together, when a smooth Jamaican man walks into her dressing room and makes her long for everything she didn't know she was missing. Unfortunately, he could cost her career and peace of mind.Anif Montague is focused on keeping the attention of his adoring readers when he lays eyes on Nyoka. She's perfect to be the cover model for his next book, and the woman in his life, but can he convince this mysterious woman to take a chance on him? Will she accept the deal he's offering? Or will the secrets she's keeping explode between them with dire consequences?Purchase Link: Amazon

After a year-long, Jamaica-Miami romance, Douglas Blythe
succeeds in putting a ring on Khalila Skyers's finger. Though gun-shy, Khalila
is willing to marry Douglas, under one condition. She wants a baby.

Doug can't go back on his promise to give her anything she wants, but sees
trouble on the horizon with two teenage girls, a hectic business schedule, a
devious ex-wife, plus a household turned upside down by a baby he doesn't want.

Their commitment to each other is unquestionable, but will
this couple's differences bind them together...or force them apart?Purchase Link: AmazonPaperback Edition

Life has a way of going awry when you least expect it, and Khalila Skyers learns this lesson the hard way. In one devastating blow after another, she loses her cozy existence.

Then Douglas Blythe overtakes her life like a flood, and she’s not equipped to deal with an attraction that seems forbidden and overwhelming. But her body and heart want what they want, and leave her wondering if she ever knew herself at all. Douglas is determined to help Khalila move beyond her obsession with the past and reach for love a second time. No matter how long it takes. No matter the distance. He’s going to prove he’s worth the risk.Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Paperback Edition

School. Music. Blogging. These are Yolanda Charles' priorities. She likes life simple and is content to hang around her step-sisters. That's until she admits she's attracted to Gary Cheung-See, a web developer who exemplifies the strong, silent, and surly type.Each time a bug hits her website and social media accounts, Gary helps with solving her issues. Despite his good looks and brilliance, Yolanda is undecided about her feelings for him and suspects he might be the culprit trying to ruin her life and reputation—no matter what her heart says.Gary is from a dysfunctional family and refuses Yolanda's help with bridging the gap between himself and his father. When a life-threatening illness hits the person he cares about most, he is forced to reassess his stance on forgiveness, while Yolanda has to decide whether Gary is friend or foe and if she can trust him with her heart.Purchase Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Paperback Edition

Dwayne and Josette are living a young couple's dream, until a tragic accident separates them. Grief-stricken, Josette withdraws into her own world. As time passes, she's convinced she's on the road to recovery—until Dwayne starts appearing to her in ways that take her to the edge of terror and back.Josette isn't fighting the hold Dwayne has on her, but Mario Browning, a persistent and perceptive man, intervenes to pull her from a dangerous abyss. Mario is determined to win Josette, but fears her dead husband will succeed in luring her to the other side if he doesn't stake his claim on her. Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Paperback Edition

Gordon Raimes is used to having things his way and is a man on a mission. When his fiancée leaves him standing at the altar, he's blindsided by her desertion. Embarrassment is the last thing on his mind, but family matters. He's been a man in charge all his life--charming, decisive, and forceful. Caroline's retreat, and subsequent disappearance, forces him to question his methods. When he's unable to get her to communicate, he pulls out all the stops to fix what's wrong between them and get the woman of his dreams to the altar, where she belongs.Caroline Byrd is living her dream--following her passion and looking forward to life with the man at the center of her world. Then family problems, involving the law, turn things upside down. There's no way a man like Gordon can understand what she's going through, and she cannot risk embarrassing him and his family any further. Her plan to disappear fails because Gordon refuses to cooperate, but Caroline knows it's a matter of time before he discovers her secret. Has she given up too quickly on the man she loves or will he prove her suspicions true?N.B. Blindsided is a sweet romance. While there are references to the act of lovemaking, there are no open-door love scenes in this book.Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Paperback Edition

Christmas looks dismal this year for Feechi Anoduro, until she meets Carsten Raimes at an auction. The wealthy businessman asks for her help with an event he's planning, but Feechi has reservations, because the last time a man asked for her help, she wound up disillusioned and pregnant. She has no time to waste on a man who's clearly out of her league, especially when she has immediate problems that need solving—a fifteen-year-old clunker that needs to go on a scrap heap and the dog her son has fallen in love with that they cannot afford to keep.Carsten enjoys a challenge any day of the week, and when he discovers Feechi, he decides she'd be a good addition to his team. But Feechi has other ideas and is hard to convince. Seducing her with a job offer doesn't work, so Carsten gets personal, but Feechi isn't sold on anything he has to give. As he alternates between work and play to get her attention, Carsten's attitude changes and suddenly he can't bear to be without this special woman, who makes him want things he never considered important before she came into his world.Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Paperback Edition

Melanie Peterson knows all about loss and likes her life the way it is, nice and safe. Her family and daily routine keep her occupied, until her office is disrupted by a four-footed ball of fluff named Maddox.The dog's owner Bryce Nevers also knows what it is to have loved and lost. Even with his sister's wedding coming up on his birthday, Valentine's Day, he determined not to venture down pathways leading to anything resembling commitment. That's until Maddox blasts his way into Melanie's life, which forces Bryce to take a second look at his hermit-like existence.Can these two wary souls put aside their fear and distrust and allow Cupid to change the course of their lives?Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Paperback EditionMatthias Laing has Toni Nevers' assurance that she'll marry him on Valentine's Day—eleven long months away. The trouble is, Matthias can't rest easy, not after Toni's ex admits he made a mistake and wants her back. A man of action, Matthias isn't leaving his dream of having forever-and-a-day with Toni to chance.The ace up Matthias' sleeve is Toni's five-year-old daughter, Jade, who has taken a shine to Matthias and wants him installed as her 'back-up daddy'. With Jade and her small army of pets on his side, they roll out a plan to get Toni to marry him within six months. Will this enterprising pair—aided by Jade's growing menagerie—be successful in their bid to have a summer wedding?Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Paperback EditionAfter eighteen years, Matthias Laing has snagged the woman of his dreams. They're past the misunderstandings of high school and are settling into a relationship, but his job as a vet keeps getting him into trouble. The appearance of a kitten in Toni's yard puts her and Matthias at odds. Jade, her five-year-old daughter, is drawn to animals and wants to keep the cat. The situation is past complicated, because there's also Ridley—the resident pet who catches a case of jealousy, Jade's abandoned fish and to top it all, the conflict between Matthias and Jade's father. Can Matthias and Toni's budding romance survive their assortment of problems and if it doesn't, will Toni's precocious five-year-old find a way to play Cupid and fix things by Valentine's Day?Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Paperback Edition

The last thing Toni wants for Christmas is more responsibility, but her daughter has other ideas. A near accident not only brings them a dog in need of a home, but puts Toni back in contact with Matthias Laing, a hot-shot footballer from her past, who she'd prefer to stay there. Matthias can't believe his luck when a lost pooch puts his high-school crush back on his radar. Given an opportunity to grant a wish for Toni's daughter, he can't resist going into Santa mode. Christmas is about to be the merriest one in ages, until Toni discovers the deception surrounding Ridley, her daughter's new pet.

Camille Moyston has put the nightmare of a violent attack behind her and likes her safe, predictable existence. What she doesn't need is a cliché, oversexed Jamaican male taking interest in her. Things would be simple if this Casanova didn't heat her blood and make her want him, but nothing in her life ever goes according to plan. For Quinn Mayhew, life is too good to waste time chasing a haughty, irritable female who is too cautious to accept him for the man he is, but somehow Camille symbolizes everything he wants in a woman and his future.

When Camille's inner fortress starts to crumble, Quinn is arrested for murder and everything he's built falls to pieces.Purchase Links:Amazon | Barnes & NobleOne indiscretion leads to untold upheaval.Sherryn Allbright is the envy of her peers. She is a wife, mother, and successful businesswoman, but her life turns topsy-turvy when a woman leaves a child on her doorstep, claiming her husband is the father. Denial is useless, for the boy resembles Reece too closely not to be his offspring. Sherryn is ready to end their marriage and blames Reece's problems on his old neighborhood—a Kingston ghetto. If he'd sever ties there, he wouldn't be caught up in baby-mother drama. When the boy's mother is murdered, Reece becomes the prime suspect and things go haywire for the Allbrights, whose lives will never be the same.Purchase Links: Amazon Barnes & Noble

A musician. A student. A tutor. Can love overcome obsession & bad choices? Josh is everything Kelleigh wants—a talented, performing artist and bad boy who appeals to the guitarist in her. On the other side, there's her math tutor, Joshua, who has the hots for her. Despite being a brilliant university student and businessman, Joshua is too tame and ordinary for Kelleigh to give him a second look. Kelleigh's world shifts when she sends nerd-boy a racy picture meant for Josh. Her tutor grabs the opportunity to blackmail her into two dates. In exchange, he promises not to share the photo she sent him in error. Backed into a corner, Kelleigh goes out with Joshua intending to set him straight. But things don't go exactly as she plans and to complicate matters, Josh has secrets of his own that make Kelleigh second guess their relationship. Will Joshua change her mind about the kind of guy she needs or will Kelleigh continue to feed her fixation with Josh, who has different ideals and feet of clay, despite the pedestal she's created for him?Purchase Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble

A willful girl. A
determined guy. A sticky situation. Can love conquer all?
After six months of serial breakups with her two-timing boyfriend, Natasha is
ready to give relationships a break. Malik has no plans to give up and schemes
to get her back, but his efforts throw his cousin in the middle of his
campaign.Natasha doesn't need another
guy messing with her brain, or her plans for the future, but Karim is different
from anyone she's ever met. The fact that he's off-limits deepens her guilt
over her attraction and puts her judgment into question. Can she move beyond
the mistakes of the past and trust someone who's no angel?

Karim is back in Jamaica for the summer and has no plans to tie himself to
anyone, because girls are complicated and he's been burned a time or two. He's
knee-deep in responsibility as a result of a thoughtless act that changed his
life. But Natasha is a girl with a difference, who makes him want things he has
sworn to give up. Will she give him the time of day and will she want him when
she finds out about his past and the present he wants to keep hidden, but
can't?Purchase Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Corra Bingham is all about preserving her sanity. After dumping her cheating ex, she goes on vacation in Xantrope. Time away is just what she needs to take her mind off the double whammy of her no-good ex and overbearing father. But things turn complicated when she nearly loses her life to a ruthless and persistent stalker. She's clueless as to why anyone would choose her for blood sport, but isn't happy when Phillip Denham appoints himself as her protector. He's everything she doesn't want in a man—good-looking, frugal with the truth, and a law-enforcement officer. Try as she might, she cannot make him go away, not even if it means saving her life. Phillip Denham is a man on a mission. On a previous visit to Xantrope, he discovers that he has a twin. His life is a lie and he wants answers. Intrigued by the missing pieces of his past, Phillip returns to the island to trace his roots. While there, he encounters Corra and someone who is intent on putting her six feet under. She's a fascinating woman, but doesn't seem like the type who would make enemies, which leaves Phillip to wonder just what she's involved in. Not that she'd give him the time of day, for him to find out her secrets. Using his skills as a detective, he races to find answers that will prevent Corra from ending up on a slab in the morgue. Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Flighty
and Irresponsible
- that's how Celeste's family sees her. After racking up one disaster after
another, Celeste flees Jamaica intent on seeking a fresh start. On the island
of Cayman, she encounters Mark Weekes who makes her forget she's sworn off men.
He's everything she wants, if only he'd stop running. A decision to follow him
to his island home of Xantrope, puts her in the orbit of a killer.

Rebellious and Pig-Headed - that's Mark's reputation. After escaping a
kidnapper and murderer five years previously, he turns his life around.
Everything would be fine if Celeste Davies stopped complicating his life, but
trouble follows her the way night follows day. Instead of the calm life he
envisions, Mark ends up neck-deep in the world of software piracy. He has two
choices. Walk away and leave Celeste on her own to deal with a stalker or admit
she means the world to him and help the police catch the man who's determined
to kill her.

As master of his destiny, Paul Weekes does what is necessary to survive He makes his own fortune, but his luck changes when hijackers target his illicit shipments. He has no proof, but suspects the police officer who facilitates his exports off the island of Xantrope has turned on him. To make things worse, Paul's ne'er-do-well cousin is accidentally involved in a gang murder, and a hit is put on him. A budding romance with the cop's niece adds more complication. Janine refuses to accept Paul's way of life, but inadvertently becomes a victim of his lifestyle. Thrust into kidnapping, double cross and murder, Paul must choose between a relationship with Janine and staying alive long enough to change the course of his future.Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Been
there. Done that.

Feisty
and independent, Anya Davies lives by her own rules. The one thing she’s
hell-bent on avoiding is a conventional relationship, thanks to her abusive ex
who refuses to stay in the past. The second complication in her life is a
secret that condemns her to constant guilt and a solitary life. A series of
near misses and escalating threats are a third and worrying factor. Only a
special man would understand or live with Anya’s challenges and demands. Casual
sex...so not having that. Enter
Christophe Mondesir. Two years ago, Anya dumped him without explanation. An
accidental meeting shoots Anya back on Christophe’s radar. He refuses to be
denied and plans to breach the fortress Anya has built around her heart—if
she’ll commit to more than a casual liaison. He’s also determined to find out
what she’s hiding. That’s if the stalker who’s after Anya doesn’t end her life
first.Purchase Links:Amazon

One man. One woman.
One wish.

After five years in
a dead-end relationship, the last thing Anya needs is a man to upset her ordered
existence. A quiet, Christmas season with family is all that’s on her agenda,
until her job puts her in contact with Christophe Mondesir, who refuses to play
by her rules.

Caught between an interfering
ex, a secret that gives her anxious moments, and a man with the power to make
her forget promises to herself, Anya faces more complications than she can
handle.

If her ex would
stay gone, she might take a chance on romance with the man determined to spin
her world off its axis. But the obstacles in her way leave Anya stuck in a
groove with work as the main diversion from her problems.

Only Christophe’s resolve
to win her love makes the difference between Anya staying in a rut and pursuing
her dreams.

Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.

- William Congreve, English playwright

Dumped by her spouse of seventeen years, Annette McKellop has no choice but to adjust to life on her own. An accomplished social worker, she can't help but see the irony of treating clients who live parallel lives, disrupted by cheating men who leave broken families behind. Not that she intends to suck up her ex-husband's betrayal.

Her plans for revenge start out brilliantly, but instead of striking a blow for all wronged females, Annette's quest to get even with Xavier is all-consuming and leads down avenues where even the most reckless souls won't go.

Until she meets Roderick Minto—a man who is off limits. Her role as counselor to his daughter prohibits anything more than a platonic relationship, but Roderick has other ideas. As their relationship deepens and she does what is taboo, Annette questions the direction of her moral compass. Should she follow her heart and Roderick's leading? Is losing a second chance at love worth the relentless pursuit of a man who has moved on and isn't coming back?

JUSTINE CHARLES is still trying to put the pieces
of her life together seven years after a disastrous extra-marital affair. She’s
raising a troubled teenage daughter and six-year-old Emile, the result of her
indiscretion.

A chance meeting drops the still-scorching Xavier McKellop back on her radar.
Her former lover is hurt and furious that Justine has kept his son’s birth a
secret. She has little choice when Xavier demands time with Emile.

Though the moments between Justine and Xavier are tense, it’s evident the flame
of attraction between them still burns hot. And just as she begins to hope and
dream about being with the only man who ever stirred her heart, body and soul,
Justine’s life is thrown into chaos. Her daughter discovers Justine’s betrayal
and Xavier’s soon-to-be ex-wife wants him back.

This time around, in her quest for love, Justine might not only lose her
deepest desire, but everything she holds dear.

Excerpt

The muted light in the room, and the
sensation of Xavier’s skin kissing hers, heightened Justine’s excitement. She
closed her eyes and buried her lips in his shoulder to soften her cries. His
passion matched hers; she threw her head back and…

“I’m glad you agreed to meet me to
finish our discussion.”

Xavier’s voice dragged her from her
fantasy, forcing Justine to squirm and dust her lap while she composed herself.
“You didn’t give me much of a choice,” she said. “Those movie tickets for
Yolanda and Emile guaranteed I couldn’t say no. Especially since you told him
first.”

He ignored the accusation and let his
gaze linger on her hair, lips and the valley between her breasts where the pearl
pendant rested.

The murmur of voices around them
increased as the bar filled with customers. They sat in a corner, where they
had a view of the drafty room filled with heavy furniture. It could certainly do
with a makeover to lighten the atmosphere, Justine thought.

Xavier
picked up his ham and cheese sandwich and took a bite. After he swallowed, he
met her eyes, a smile on his lips. “Well, I did want to distract them.”

Afraid of his answer, she asked, “Why?”

Wishing she could stop herself, Justine glanced
at her watch. Too much time remained until she was scheduled to pick up her
children, and danger lurked at the table with this man who was once the center
of her world.

Three Jamaican women walk a tightrope of decisions when their lives are derailed by blackmail, deceit and infidelity. JUSTINE CHARLES, sensible and self-contained, battles an addiction which could destroy her marriage, reputation, and relationship with her daughter. DIONNE JONES, an aggressive go-getter, takes risks that cut a trail of devastation through her family and business. KYRA MILLS, struggling single mother, is crippled by debt, bad judgment and destructive choices. Can two of the long-time friends survive startling revelations involving their partners? And will the other push her obsession to the point of danger?Purchase Link: Amazon |

In true Jamaican style, Dionne, Justine and Kyra have found ways to make the best of a bad situation. According to Jamaican parlance, they've learned totun dem han' mek fashion.

Their combined financial need, drive to succeed and lack of emotional support are detrimental to their survival, but these enterprising women are living the best life they can--coming up with creative ways to survive--given their situation.

The lack of emotional support and the death of romance with their partners deepen their problems, which in turn leads them down a path of distraction--even as they strengthen their friendship.

Friends. Sisters. Keepers of shocking secrets. This selection of intertwined vignettes traces the path of three black women whose lives intertwine in Distraction, the novel.

Despite promises made in tough times, people do break their word, and as
Jamaicans say, ‘throw stone behind them’ when circumstances improve. In
Don’t Get Mad…Get Even: Kicked to the Kerb, characters good and bad
discover that despite Fame & Misfortune, victims are Freed of their
Excess Baggage. Some learn that when friends and family are Discarded,
What Goes Around…comes around.

2008 Bronze Medal Winner
Young Adult Novel - Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Creative
Writing CompetitionRaised in a hotbed of
arguments and fights, eleven-year-old Christine Simms is always at the center
of conflict between her parents. With each new day and unfolding drama, she
suffers through her mother's temper and cruelty. A domestic dispute ends in
tragedy, sending the family into a tailspin. Christine's siblings become wards
of the state and she is taken in by her father's sister.A shocking discovery sends Christine on a quest to find the stranger who
abandoned her in Jamaica and changed the course of her life. Determined to
unravel the mystery of her birth, Christine uses every tool at her disposal and
treads with courage where no child should.Purchase Links: Amazon

A young boy's future
hangs in the balance when those sworn to protect him become abusers.
A tragic domestic dispute between his parents lands eleven-year-old Samuel
Simms and his siblings in the Downswell Place of Safety. The challenges come
hard and fast, but the one thing Sam doesn't count on is being left behind in
the children’s home. Angry and disillusioned, he gives up hope of adoption.

A ray of light comes in the form of a foster family, but everything is not what
it seems in the Miller household. After a harrowing five-month stint, Sam runs
away. A victim of child abuse, he's determined not to repeat his mistake and
opts to remain a ward of the Jamaican government until he’s eighteen. The
burden of secrecy is more than he can bear and Sam's hair-trigger temper makes
him disruptive.

Under pressure from his aunt, Sam caves in and shares a tale of horror
surrounding his foster parents. With his ordeal exposed, Sam must make
life-changing choices. He can continue to be brainwashed by his abuser or face
his nemesis in a court of law and stop a habitual predator from harming other
children.

Saving Sam is a moving coming-of-age story that explores relationships, the
abuse of trust and the ease with which evil can hide under the guise of
Christianity and philanthropy.

7 comments:

I read Distraction then Retribution. Then of course I read the insert of Absolution. I go to Amazon.com to look for the book Absolution and it doesn't exist. I come here and it doesn't exist. When will I be able to buy the book Absolution?